Cute (and easy) DIY garland

My sister (Kitten Sorceress) is adorable. She is super crafty and creates the BEST things. Always.

Since I’ve been busy/overwhelmed/barelymakingit with the start up of the new school year (let me tell you- 6^th graders are exhausting. Every. Day. The energy- where does it come from??), I am posting yet another adorable DIY project that KS worked on recently.

Materials:

-Old t-shirts in whatever colors you choose

-Scissors

-Hot glue

-Twine/yarn/some type of string

-clothes pins

 

1. Cut your t-shirts into long, thin strips.

Cut

2. Roll each strip, using hot glue to secure the end of the strip to the BACK of the flower? Dot? The thing.

Roll.

Roll some more.

Keep rolling.

Glue.

3. Using a clothes pin, secure the THINGS to your piece of twine/yarn/whatever. Make sure they’re spaced apart evenly!

Pin.

4. Hang it up and give yourself a pat on the back for being so darn cute.

Love it.

 

I cannot wait to make a fall garland- I already have the old t-shirts set aside in a dusty red, burnt orange (seriously though- who makes a t-shirt in burnt orange?), and mustard yellow. It is going to be fabulous.

Happy week to you all! Cross your fingers I’ll have time to complete one of the 10 projects I have on my to-do list. How many days until summer??

Easy DIY Shelves

I hate bank walls. They bother me immensely. They’re so lonely and bare and sad. But also kinda exciting. There’s so much that you can do to an empty wall. For example:

–Display books

–Chalkboard wall

–Photo wall 

I found this cool pottery set below at a garage sale for $8 and knew I wanted to display it somewhere in our house.

Set of 4 bowls and plates= $8 at garage sale. We found the coffee mugs in my grandmother’s basement.

Unfortunately, shelves are expensive. And I hate how many of them look. So, we decided to create our own. Here’s how:

Materials:

-2 long pieces of wood (cut to whatever length you choose)

-Shelf brackets

-Screws

-Power drill

-Level

Directions:

Figure out where you want your shelves to go on the wall (keep in mind you need to find studs for this to really work. Please note: the video I attached for finding studs has the following comment posted: “Also, the guy in this video is very sexy.” You’ve been warned). Mark with a pencil the exact location of the studs and where your brackets will go. Using your drill, attach the brackets to the wood. Finally, drill screws into the remaining bracket holes, attaching the shelf to the wall.

*Sorry I do not have pictures for this process- I didn’t know when we did these 2 years ago that I’d have this blog. Rats.

Total cost to make: about $18

Accessory breakdown: Both pictures, wine bottle, sifter, towel- gifts from friends and family; old cheese grater- $0.50 (will be used in a project, of course); old books, picture frame, mason jar, dried hydrangea- found around our house. Total cost of accessories (including pottery): $8.50. Amen.

So how much will it cost you to build similar shelves?

-2 pieces of wood: $6

-Brackets: $12 (includes approximate cost of screws used)

Total cost: $18

I can handle that.

Any other ideas for blank walls? Do share. 

Also, puppies:

Love.

 

Folding Chair Makeover

While looking for houses to buy a few years ago, Señor and I fell in love with our current home. It was a foreclosure that a group of house flippers bought, gutted, and remodeled. I love everything about the house (the yard definitely needs some work though. Seriously). One of my favorite parts is the sunroom. During the summer, it’s perfect for entertaining friends. When the weather changes and fall sneaks up on us, I love to sit on the porch with some tea and the windows open. It’s just perfect.

Here’s the thing: we don’t have any seating. Well, we have a futon, but not everyone wants to cuddle on that disgusting old thing. So, I recently added “seating for sunroom” to my garage sale list. Surprisingly, I found some chairs within a week. For all 3 chairs in their glorious splendor, we paid $7 (total). Maybe a little overpriced, but I wanted them reaaaal baaayyud.

$7 total at a garage sale

They’re ugly. It’s true. All goldish and weird yellow. It’s too much. But not to worry. This type of chair is ridiculously easy to fix up. I found this idea on- imagine this- Pinterest. Go figure!

Here’s what we did:

1. First, we removed the screws in the back

Tools. Gotta have ’em.

Remove the screws. Keep them in a safe place until you’re ready to put everything back together.

Ugh. So. Ugly.

2. We Señor spray painted every metal part of the chair

We chose an oil-rubbed bronze spray paint by Rust-Oleum.

3. While the chairs dried overnight, we wrapped this fresh, cute fabric around the seat and back padding of the chair. You can find scrap fabrics at garage sales or head to a fabric store (which is what I did because I was too lazy to wait. This fabric cost me $6). Using a heavy-duty staple gun, staple the fabric to padding.

Make sure to pull it tight! Also, again with the weird hands. Where did they come from??

Staple guns are your friend.

Dainty.

4. Once the chairs have dried, screw the paddings back onto the chair.

So much better

Yep.

If you’re really cool, you could also:

• Stencil a design on the metal part of the chair
• Use a vinyl tablecloth as fabric to make the chairs weatherproof
• Use different, coordinating fabrics and paint colors

The total cost for the chairs runs as follows:

Chairs: $7

Fabric: $6

Spray Paint: $10

Total cost: $23 or $7.67 per chair (Used a calculator this time, thankyaverymuch). Not bad for some additional seating for our jam* sessions.

*Our good friends are teaching us guitar. So when I say *jam,* I really mean that I clumsily “follow” along and occasionally hit the G-chord. It ain’t pretty.

Tongues.

DIY Bar from Baby Changing Table

Hello. Sorry it’s been awhile. My life has exploded in the last few weeks as 1) I realize I have less than 1 week until I return to work (crying) and 2) my master’s program is getting really fun (tedious).

Anyway, I’ve been collecting all sorts of goodies to create and fix up, but have not had the time 😦

In the meanwhile, check out the awesome DIY project my fabulous sister and her boyfriend created:

DIY Bar from Baby Changing Table

I found this changing table at a garage sale with my friend M for $30. I knew it would be the perfect height for a bar and Kitten Sorceress (sis) thought so, too.

Baby changing table: $30. Excuse M’s arm in the picture 🙂 She stood next to it so we could show the height of the piece.

To begin, one of the “rails,” for lack of a better word, was removed. You could remove all of them, of course. Whatever you prefer.

Next, paint the table using a primer. This will make your piece look SO much better! Believe me, I’ve done it without a primer before and it’s just not the same. If you’re really super amazing, do two coats of primer. Even better. It’s okay if it looks sloppy- you’re just covering the piece. Sis used a small roller for the large, flat areas and a brush for the hard to reach places and corners.

Changing table with primer

Once the primer has dried, you can begin painting with whatever paint you chose. Now. You must be patient. Some pieces may take a few coats. You have to be willing to wait! If you’re like me, you may sometimes get it in your head that YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT RIGHT NOW. Yeah, not gonna work for this type of project. If you want it to look amazing, go ahead and accept that this will be a weekend project. Primer on Friday, 2 coats on Saturday, another coat on Sunday…you get the picture.

First coat

Final coat

Since Kitten Sorceress and Boyfriend wanted a bar, they took out the drawers (PROJECT IDEA! Use the drawers for storage under your bed).

They also added a shelf to create additional storage space. To add a custom shelf to your piece, first measure the depth and width of your piece. If you have extra wood lying around because you’re so cool, use it. If not, head to your local home improvement store (shameless plug for Georgia favorite, Home Depot) and have them cut the board to the correct size. Next, prime and paint the shelf. Finally, attach the shelf using any sort of brackets you have/can pick up. They got their’s from IKEA for $1.50 (total).

Custom shelf- wood cut from Home Depot

Brackets from IKEA: $0.50 a piece

I seriously LOVE how it turned out- they did an awesome job!

Perfect

Before and After

-Baby changing table – $30

-Primer –  $10

-Black paint – $8

-Shelf – $10

-Brackets- $1.50

-Brushes- previously purchased for other DIY projects

Total cost: roughly $60

Yeah!

Awesome job, Kitten Sorceress and Boyfriend. You guys are the best.

Wanna know why else they’re the best? On their bar, they also have the following great garage sale/antique finds:

– Jack Daniels glass mugs: 4 for $1

– Wine rack (spray painted blue with previously purchased spray paint): $3

-Braves pitcher: $3

Kitten Sorceress wanted everyone to note, however, that the Dom Pérignon is NOT from a garage sale. That would be quite the sale!

Also, puppies say hi.

Hi.

Spotting the perfect DIY/Upcyle Project

Being crafty sounds great, right? I read some blogs and am utterly disgusted (in a good way) by the cute, crafty, insane projects people create. How do they find the time? Where did they get that idea? Can I be them?

I love projects, but I’ll admit to you- most of my ideas come from Pinterest. I see something I like, put the items I need on my Garage Sale list, and eventually put it together (usually with the help of Sr., the husband).

That leads me to today’s post: How do you spot the perfect DIY/upcycle project? (thank you, Kitten Sorceress, for the idea)

Easy schmeasy, guys. 3 things to keep in mind: knowledge, quality, and price.

1. Knowledge– if you’re like me and you’re not Martha Stewart, you need to do some research online. I’ve said it a trillion times now, but I’ll say it again: Pinterest. It’s honestly overwhelming how many ideas there are on this website. Using the Pinterest search bar, do separate searches for the following: “DIY,” “upcycle,” “home décor,” and “crafts.” Your search should yield numerous ideas that you may like to recreate. Seriously- you have to know what you want. Just wondering around an estate sale may not be fruitful for you. If you come prepared, however, with knowledge of what you want to create, you may actually find what you’re looking for.

2. Quality– Don’t buy it if it’s not a quality piece. Say you’re looking for a dresser. It can be ugly. It can have a hideous paint job. It can even have horrendous knobs. It should not, however, be broken, falling apart, rotting, or sprouting anything. It needs to be a good, quality piece, like the dresser we found in my parent’s basement. Made in the 70’s, this dresser is solid wood. I know because I tried to carry it. What? Yeah. Anyway, it’s not perfect by any means, but it was free and we needed a dresser. Before, it looked something like this (THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY THE DRESSER. I didn’t take a before picture because I’m dumb.)

Same color and similar style as the dresser we actually painted.

So we painted it and spray painted the brass knobs. Total cost: $15 for paint, spray paint, and some cute drawer liners.

Here’s a tip: it helps to have another person with you when you’re on the hunt for certain items. You may see an item you’re looking for and think to yourself, “that’s the perfect hat rack I’ve been looking for!” Thankfully, you brought a friend who will**hopefully** intervene and point out that 2 of the knobs are missing and it’s leaning drastically to the left. Friends are good (a.k.a. quality assurance).

3. Price– Consider the item you’re making. Imagine how much it would cost in the store. If you’re coming anywhere close to that price at a garage sale, you’re spending too much. It’s a garage sale! Even an estate sale (which can be more expensive, depending on the business hosting the sale) should be willing to offer a decent price. If they’re not, then that’s when you walk away. Part of the thrill of upcyling or making your own whatever is knowing that you saved a buck. You may have to muster some super human patience, but you can do it.

Are you planning any DIY/upcycle projects? Here’s what I’m working on finding/creating:

Wine Caddy

Mirror

Folding Chairs (I actually bought the chairs at a sale recently…now just looking for the right fabric)

Just because it’s cute: this picture of Riley patting Finley on the back. So encouraging.